Matthew 21:1–11 NKJV

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

When I was going through my ministry apprenticeship program I was taught to read each passage of scripture three times. The first time to do it quickly - to get a quick overview. In fact, I think the word they used was read it hastily as if you have to get the general idea quickly and don’t have time to waste. The second time you read it a little slower, just to get a good grasp of the main pillars. The final time, it is read deliberately and digested bit by bit, detail by detail. This is the part where things really come to life. I like to read Scripture this way. Every time that I read some portion of the Scriptures, there is a truth which becomes clearer than ever to me. I will sometimes read a passage, and although I know that the words are going to be there, some new image just leaps off the page at me.

As I prepared for today’s message and reread the very familiar story from Matthew 21, every part of the story was familiar — the disciples being sent into the city to find a donkey, the instructions Jesus gave about where to find one, the way to borrow it, the way Jesus mounted the animal, the cloaks of His disciples covering the animal, the people throwing their garments on the road, the waving palm branches, the shouts from the pilgrims along the way. Jesus arrives at Jerusalem, and the people ask the question, “Who is this?” I knew that question was there. I had read it many times. But now those questioning words have taken on a new importance. That question popped up suddenly and unexpectedly. We took Josie for a hike yesterday and we were a little apprehensive because she has not received rattlesnake training yet, we had no issues that we know of, but did you know that most hikers in Arizona walk by rattlesnakes all the time and never even notice them? They are there if you’re looking for them, but unless they get alarmed and start rattling and posture, you are not likely to notice them. This question is similar - it’s there, but it just blends into its surroundings - seemingly unimportant.

But is it? I mean, Palm Sunday is the joyful beginning of the Easter celebrations, and yet there is deep within us a lingering question, “Who is this who comes?”

This is a question with three different types of answer.

factual answers,

theoretical answers,

personal answers.

Who Is This Who Comes?

The expected, practical, factual answer is “Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet from Galilee, the son of Mary and Joseph, the carpenter.” That is an honest, truthful answer. It is certainly not all there is about Palm Sunday, and it is not all there is to say about Jesus, but it is an honest answer. It is a factual answer. The one who comes is Jesus the Man. It is possible to know Jesus as a man, as a person like ourselves. But to know Jesus as a man is not to know the full meaning of His life nor to understand he significance of His purpose.

We can be as frustrated with this factual answer as the preacher’s child who was called in to wash up before dinner after an afternoon of play. Like all boys he wanted to know why he needed to wash. The mother’s reply was typical. “Son, we have to wash to get rid of the germs.” The boy responded with disgust, “Germs and Jesus. Jesus and germs. That’s all I hear about around here. And I’ve never seen either one.”

Jesus was a person, He was a man. Jesus was a man from Nazareth. But, to know the simple facts is not to know the full significance of His life.

I recently read a story from a pastor that illustrates this wonderfully. The point of the story as he was stating it was, “Do we really know our congregation?” He starts by recounting how he first became acquainted with a man with the same first name as himself. He had visited the church he pastored, and became acquainted with him as he continued to visit the congregation. Finally joined, and became an active leader. He worked for a large company and lived in a large home. He and his wife attended a Bible study that this pastor was leading. He soon accepted responsibilities of leadership in the church. and the pastor felt felt that he knew him well. And that’s when he realized that he didn’t know him as well as he thought. He says that he began to see his picture in the newspaper on the business pages. There were articles about him in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week. He began to appear on local and national television news reports. He was still his friend and fellow Christian, and they still worked together as equals. Yet the day-to-day decisions he made affected thousands of employees. When he sold stock options, hundreds of persons either made or lost money. As the chief executive officer of his company, he was an internationally-known figure, far more than this pastor had ever imagined. You see, to simply give the facts about Jesus is not all one must say about the One who comes on Palm Sunday. There is so much more.

Who Is This Who Comes?

The theoretical, philosophical, and theological answer is that this is the Christ, the son of God. When we give such an answer, it is appropriate to kneel, to adore, to spread the garments before Him. It is necessary to shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But, however correct this theoretical answer may be, like the factual answer, it is not all that can be said. To offer this exalted view of Jesus gives us such an awesome understanding of Him that we have difficulty seeing any connection that He could have with you and me.

When I first started attending Grace Chapel, I was in awe of the pastors who appeared to be different from the rest of us. People stood in awe of them and hung on every word of advice that they would give. Naturally, I thought that they were something pretty special - and in truth they were. But in my mind, I made them something more than human. That lasted up until I spent some time playing softball with a few of them. Boy did a couple of them have tempers! But they laugh and smile and tell stories, and breathe just as the rest of us do! In fact, once I began to do some regular volunteer ministry at the church I began to banter and tease them just like real people! Just like me! Imagine that?

Who is this who comes? It is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Certainly, that is a true answer. But that is not all we can say about Him who comes. He is even more than that.

Who Is This Who Comes?

The final answer is a personal one. There is an imaginative sense in which the one who comes is you and me. Our Master walked down the road from Bethany and Bethphage to Jerusalem amidst the shouts and the exuberant joy of the crowds. He walked toward the fulfillment of His destined goal. He did walk it all alone. And He walked it as the unique and only Son of God.

But Jesus also walked that road as the firstborn of many children, the children of God. He walked that road as the leader of that great parade in which you and I also participate. We follow in His train. That traditional spiritual captures the meaning of this great personal truth:

Jesus walked this lonesome valley, He had to walk it by himself, O, nobody else could walk it for him, He had to walk it by himself. We must walk this lonesome valley, We have to walk it by ourselves, O, nobody else can walk it for us, We have to walk it by ourselves.

If we are to be the bearers of Christ’s spirit in the world, you and I must also walk that road through the crowds who shout and claim our attention. You and I must pass through the temptations to power, and prestige, and honor. We must continue to walk on toward the fulfillment of the purposes of God. We must walk toward our very own times and places of total commitment, taking up our own crosses of self-giving.

Who is this who comes? In a special manner, it is you and I. Who is this who comes? It is all of us, walking together toward our future with God and for God.

Palm Sunday challenges all of us to not only consider who this man is, but perhaps more importantly, why has He come? I think we have a good clue right here:

John 17:9–19 NKJV

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

A couple returned to their missionary assignment in India. They left their twelve-year-old son under the care of the grandmother in the United States so that the boy could continue his education. They expected to return shortly. They were no more settled in at their mission station that fall of 1941 than the war began raging, and the parents were separated from their son for eight long years. The parents finally arrived on the West Coast, and telegraphed their twenty-year-old son, now a student in college. They told him of their pending arrival and asked him to meet them at the train station.

It was almost dark when the train finally pulled into the station. The missionary couple were the only ones to leave the train at that station. The son could hardly see them in the evening haze, and it was dusky enough that the parents could not see their son well either. They embraced in the semi-darkness.

Joining hands, the three walked toward the station where there was more light. With tears streaming down her face, the mother looked and looked into the face of her son. Then she exclaimed, “Arnie, our boy’s gone and looked like you. He looks just like you!”Once we have answered the question who is this man?

Palm Sunday calls us to a life with Christ. Palm Sunday challenges us to complete that journey with our Lord which leads us to full commitment and discipleship in His ways.

What a glory awaits us! What a future is before us when we move from the side of the road, from being spectators, to following after Him! Perhaps the most stunning shout to us from those who remain at the side of the road will be, “Why, those people have gone and looked like Jesus! Those people look just like Jesus!”

Who Is This Who Comes?

It is Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet from Galilee. It is Christ, the Son of the Living God for sure. But could it not also be... MUST it not also be, you and I? Must it not also be each of us on the way to a life that makes us like more like Him each day?